Ulf Klarmann accompanies the BMWI as a participant in a business delegation to Israel

From June 24 to 25, 2013, our CEO Ulf Klarmann accompanied the German Federal Minister for Economics and Technology, Dr. Philipp Rösler, to Israel as an official member of the business delegation of the Federal Ministry for Economics and Technology (BMWi).

The main focus areas of this delegation trip were:

• Start-ups

• Biotechnology

• Information Technology and the Creative Industries

• Healthcare

Below is a brief overview of the key events from this journey:

(You may now insert your summary or itinerary details, such as meetings, locations visited, partnerships initiated, etc.

• Anreise nach Tel Aviv mit der deutschen "Airforce One" vom Militärflughafen Tegel.
• Abendveranstaltung auf Einladung des Bundesministers für Wirtschaft und Technologie Dr. Philipp Rösler
• Vorstellung israelischer Start-ups

Shortly before boarding the German "Airforce One"

Tuesday, 25.06.2013

On Tuesday, the program began with a welcome address by Mr. Zvi Oren (President of the Manufacturers Association of Israel), Mr. Uriel Lynn (President of the Federation of Israeli Chambers of Commerce), and Mr. Ofer Zaks (CEO of the Israel Export & International Cooperation Institute).

The “Israel Business Seminar” was then officially opened by Federal Minister Dr. Philipp Rösler and Israeli Minister of the Economy Naftali Bennett.

Later in the morning, several presentations were held under the theme “Israel as the Start-up Nation.” The Israel Export and International Cooperation Institute shared that Israel invests more in research and development than any other country in the world—amounting to 4.3% of its gross national product, compared to Germany’s 2.4%. Furthermore, it was noted that more Israeli companies are now listed on NASDAQ than from all of Europe combined. In 2011 alone, $2.14 billion was invested in 546 new start-ups.

This success is attributed in part to special government support programs from the Israeli Ministry of Economy, which offer tax incentives for venture capitalists and provide hands-on support during the founding phase through internationally experienced consultants. The IT and high-tech sectors, which currently account for over 50% of Israel’s total exports, are especially dynamic. A recent example: Waze, a community-based traffic navigation app, was acquired by Google for $1 billion.

Following the presentations, a series of 20-minute pitches introduced successful Israeli start-ups, entrepreneurs, and venture capitalists, including:

• Eden Shochat:

  • Face.com (Facial recognition software used by Facebook)

  • Aternity (User interface performance optimization)

  • Delavenne Enterprises (Hedge fund analytics)

• Dorit Dor:

  • Checkpoint (IT security)

• Zohar Dayan:

  • Wibbitz (Text-to-video technology)

In the afternoon, the B2B meetings with Israeli companies took place. The Israeli Ministry of Economy and Technology had arranged suitable business partners from Israeli companies for each of the businesses participating in the delegation.

B2B.Meting

For ERPwerk, concrete talks were held with a software manufacturer regarding a potential joint venture in the field of maintenance and documentation software. Additionally, there were several promising discussions with other companies about the development of customized software solutions.

Conclusion

"The visit to Israel clearly demonstrated the advantages that internationalization can offer when supported by government programs and other professional assistance," was the summary of Ulf Klarmann upon his return. "It was an exciting two days, and I was particularly impressed by the successful matchmaking with suitable companies and the excellent organization by the BMWi and the Israeli Chamber of Commerce."